- The Two Killings of Sam Cooke is a programme of multiples, a film which plays with doubles, divergences, and different narrative strands.
- ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke 2019 TV-MA 1h 14m Music & Concert Documentaries While Sam Cooke rose to stardom as a soul singer, his outspoken views on civil rights drew attention that may have contributed to his death at age 33.
Legendary singer Sam Cooke is the focus of Netflix’s new film, Remastered: The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke. The documentary takes an inside look into the Cooke’s relationship with the music industry and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. His life and death have remained controversial, so viewers are wondering, how true is Remastered: The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke?
The film documents Cooke’s life through archival video footage and personal accounts from people who were inside his orbit, so it is as true as any documentary can be. With interviews from Cooke’s family and friends — including legendary musicians Smokey Robinson and Quincy Jones — The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke focuses on the singer’s rise to stardom and how he used it to become a pioneer for the civil rights movement. Some of the most fascinating footage in the documentary features videos and photographs of Cooke’s famous 1964 meeting with civil rights icons Malcolm X, Muhammed Ali, and Jim Brown.
The Two Killings of Sam Cooke depicts Sam Cooke as he was: a pioneering musician, Civil Rights figure, and beacon of celebrity activism who was taken too soon.
The documentary reveals that Cooke was shot and killed by a Los Angeles motel manager named Bertha Franklin — who claimed that the singer attacked her wearing just a sports jacket and shoes — while he inquired about a woman he brought to the motel. That woman, Elisa Boyer, claimed that Cooke forced her into the motel, but she managed to escape while accidentally carrying his clothes. Franklin said that Cooke came down to her office and began demanding she tell him where Boyer went, and then proceeded to attack her, so she shot him in self defense. While Boyer and Franklin’s testimony stood up in court at the time, many people believe that Cooke’s murder may have been motivated by politics and greed.
“It just didn’t seem like he was the person who gets shot down in the way that he did, and there had to be something more at play, and that sort of fueled the idea of this being some sort of conspiracy,” Boston Globe editor Renee Graham says in the documentary. “Elvis believed that there was a sense in the music industry that Sam was getting too powerful and had to be stopped, which echoed what a lot of people in the black community thought. You know, that this was about a black man who didn’t know his place, and to stop him, he had to be murdered.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke director, Kelly Duane de la Vega, said that Cooke’s death ultimately overshadowed his contributions to the civil rights movement, and did a disservice to his legacy. “Part of his legacy was hijacked by the way he died,” she told the outlet. “He was an incredible musical artist, but just as important was the way he contributed to the civil-rights movement and embodied the idea of an African-American artist having power in the record industry. It was a seedy end, and for some people, that’s where the conversation ended.”
No matter which version of his murder you believe, there’s no doubt that Cooke lived an incredible life, and his contributions to music and civil rights continue to inspire and impact the world.
Remastered: The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke is currently streaming on Netflix.
Legendary singer Sam Cooke died in 1964 under circumstances shrouded in mystery. “The Two Killings of Sam Cooke”gives us a look at his life, who he was, what he stood for, and the unanswered questions surrounding his untimely death. Sam was a passionate, loving, gifted, revolutionary, and complicated man. As people fighting the struggle for freedom and equality in America while just trying to live, Sam was, in some sense, all of us.
The Pioneer
Sam Cooke’s story was nearly lost to history and that’s why this documentary is important. Younger generations know the song “A Change is Gonna Come” but they don’t know the man, Sam Cooke. He was a pioneer. In the documentary, Smokey Robinson credits Cooke for Black artists wearing afros. Cooke saw it as a sign of our history and culture. He also saw it as a reminder that we are beautiful. At a time where there are laws being created to prevent discrimination against our hair, this is a timely message we need to hear.
Sam Cooke was also a pioneer in the music industry. He was the first Black person to start a record label. He wanted to create opportunities that were not available to his fellow Black artists and give them a shot at their dreams without being cheated by the major labels.
Sam had the vision of what the music industry could look like for people like him to own their music and distribution, to be their own master. He paved the way for the many artists who eventually started labels and fought to own the copyrights to their music. There are many who believe that this spirit of freedom is what got him killed.
The Revolutionary
Throughout the documentary, you recognize that this very spirit was at the core of who Cooke was. He was great friends with some of the biggest Black revolutionaries of the time: Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Jim Brown. These four men shared ideas, politics, hopes, and dreams with one another. Although it was released posthumously, I believe you can see the effect of that friendship in his classic, “A Change is Gonna Come.”Upon initial release, the record label deleted the second verse because they found it to be too political and were unsure of how it would go over with white audiences.
Arguably his biggest revolutionary act was the picture he gave us of Black male freedom in his friendship with Muhammad Ali. There’s a scene in the documentary where the two of them are singing and the look of joy and happiness in their eyes is one that can only be shared with true friends. The joy and laughter they brought out of each other was something seldom seen among Black men in public spaces. At a time when the majority of images of Black men were negative (still true), their friendship gave us a different view of Black manhood. Instead of being seen as buffoons, beasts, and the butt of jokes, these were intellectual, joyful, and genuinely loving men. This is an image we needed to see more of back
Walking the Line
Cooke was a complicated Black man in a complicated world. Jim Brown put it this way: “If you were a popular celebrity with crossover value, you did have the pressure of were you going to be careful, or were you going to be truthful and real?” Cooke often chose the latter.
He would play some of the biggest and best venues in front of huge white audiences but never left Black people behind. Often times in his fight for equality, Cooke would refuse to play in segregated venues. A move like this didn’t just put his career in jeopardy but also his life. It is believed that Sam Cooke was asking himself the question many of us find ourselves asking now: how can I be my authentic Black self? For him, it couldn’t stop at making music; he had to be in the movement for freedom. People speculate that this was another cause of his death.
A Mysterious Ending
Sam Cooke died under strange circumstances that are unsettling and have not been properly investigated to this very day. There are many people who felt he was a Black man getting too powerful and needed to be stopped. On a December night in 1964, he was gunned down at a motel. There is a story of the death given in the documentary but none of the people closest to Cooke believe it to be true.
Two Killings Of Sam Cooke Review
We don’t know if the truth will ever come out. The years 1963-1968 saw some important figures in the movement for Black freedom taken away: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, and Martin Luther King Jr. Right in there is Sam Cooke. He was more than just a talented singer and musical icon. He was a hero to Black people.
The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke
CJ is a Brooklyn native and loves his city more than Drake loves Toronto. He has an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Western Seminary. He longs to see the gospel shine in his city, in Brooklyn as it is in heaven. He is a husband, father, writer, speaker, urban missionary, and avid hoops fan. You can follow him on all the socials @CJ_Quartlbaum
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